What I’ve always loved about Deepa’s work is that she is very much an artiste – absorbing the art of film making and challenging the norms of how films must be made in India. But she also pays close attention to her craft – she’s organized and meticulous with great faith in the creative process.

Deepa is more than just a big name editor in India. She’s a director, producer and a herald for social stories of substance. Five years ago, her collaboration with husband Amole Gupte yielded Aamir Khan‘s acclaimed Tare Zameen Par. (Amol and Deepa’s interview with Frontline has insights into how TZP came together). In 2009 she finally finished her labour of love – Nero’s Guests, a documentary on India’s agrarian crisis. More recently the pair collaborated on Stanley Ka Dabba, a slowly unwinding schoolboy’s story with epic adult themes. (Amol talks about this film here). Deepa edited all those films.

I decided to ask Deepa more about the mehnat behind the creative process of film editing.

Deepa, you’ve directed a documentary. We’ll talk about “Nero’s Guests” in a little bit. But I really wanted to focus on your work as an editor first. You are a writer, editor, producer, director. Did you begin working as an editor by choice or purely by accident?

Deepa: It is interesting that often others are able to spot skills in you that you yourself were unaware of. In my case, it was [legendary director] Govind Nihalani, whom I assisted on direction, who insisted that I had it in me to be an editor.

I was always enthusiastic about post-production and took a lot of interest in editing, even while assisting Govindji. Then when he was making Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa, he simply asked me to cut it. I had never assisted any editor before that, but he had the faith. When I started editing, it was like a homecoming, as if I was always meant to do it. To date, editing gives me tremendous peace of mind.

At what point do you get involved with a film that you edit? (I’m interested in seeing how this works in the Indian film industry: do you discuss dailies with the director? Do you do an editor’s cut at all?)

Deepa: It starts with the script. For me, that’s like my first viewing of the film. I read the script very carefully, mostly 3-4 times. I make extensive notes of the sections I like, or don’t, where my attention flagged, where I was moved etc. At this stage, I give feedback to the director because most problems in editing are actually born out of problems of scripting. If we can thrash it out, that really helps.

Of course, if the director is open-minded, then a lot is possible. I usually stay away from the shooting process for I feel it affects my objectivity to the material. Somehow, the involvement makes you party to the creation and that affects the sharpness or clarity with which you can fix things that might need fixing.

In the edit room, I work alone. I don’t like anyone around when I am watching the rushes…it is a very sacred and almost meditative process of me. I spend days watching the rushes to understand the tones of the actors, the world of the director, his sense of pacing, rhythm etc. Once I have done that, then I start actually cutting. When I edit, I like to imagine I am editing just once and there is no way to change what I do and every cut I make should be as perfect as possible.

Sometimes I feel that fact that ‘do-undo’ is so easy on a computer, it somehow makes you less studious and accurate in your practice. So when I cut, I try to make it as correct as possible. So there is some discipline in the process. I then share the scenes with the director. If he has inputs, we execute them. It is important to see the film from the director’s eye and then try to achieve as close to what his vision is.

Film editing is pretty powerful in the sense that you can pretty much re-tell the story. How do you make sure you are true to the director’s vision?

Deepa: You don’t have to be true to the director’s vision all the time! You have to make the best film possible with the material you have. That is what is needed.

Sometimes, directors can be obstinate and not see the film another way. It is a creative process and while things are thought through, just looking at the material from another point of view can make a difference. I have a simple motto; lets try it. If it does not work, the director can dump your idea, but at least you tried it.

In that sense, I feel an editor needs to bring in a point of view, not always in agreement with the director, but always with the goal of making the best of the material.

Indian films are special in the sense that they have songs in them. Do you end up editing to songs a lot? Is that really different from editing the rest of the film?

Deepa: I enjoy editing songs thoroughly.

I still remember the first song I ever edited was a song called Rang De in Govindji’s film Thakshak. It was choreographed by Saroj Khan and had typical bollywood dance movements. I was terrified of showing her the edit because I had never cut a song before that but she loved it and that was relief!

Now more and more songs are used to push the narrative, so in that sense it is like cutting a sequence. In fact I relish that combination…to keep the musicality of the sequence, whilst making sure you are pushing the story. Like Noore Khuda in My Name is Khan, or Tumhari Meri Baatein in Rock On.

I remember being blown away by the climax of Il Postino for just that reason; a beautifully executed musical narration.

I’ve always wanted to ask an editor this: do you ever look at what you have and say “Whoops the director forgot to shoot this and that. Now how do I make this work?!”

Deepa: Happens often. Most times, if possible, I ask them to do pickups and try to fix it. Which is why I like to edit while the filming process is going on. That way, it is very easy to set things right without adding to costs or pressuring the production team. So typically by the time the shoot is done, so is the rough first cut. So if anything needs to be fixed, it is a live process and we address it immediately.

I remember bunking school in the 80s to watch a movie in which Govinda punches a bad guy in a red jacket. When the guy got up, he was wearing a green T-shirt. I know Indian films are all polish nowadays but do you run into continuity issues like that at the proverbial editing table?

Deepa: It is the most basic part of the film process, but invariably there are continuity issues that come up. It depends a lot on the discipline of the actor and the director. Some actors are amazing at their continuity, knowing exactly what they did and when. Shahrukh, Mr. Bachchan are fantastic.

But at the same time, I don’t kill myself over it. I much rather engage in judging where the eye of the audience is…that is really the call the editor has to take. Once you are aware of where the audience’s attention will be, then you can get away with a lot of things…

I’ve heard lots of stories of how roles change (or disappear) after the editing is complete. Have you ever left someone aspiring star’s career on the cutting floor?

Deepa: Not really, but in the interest of the film sometimes, one has to be harsh.

Very recently in Amole’s film [Stanley Ka Dabba], the art teacher’s role was cut up a lot! Initially she has scenes in the classroom, but both Amole and I felt it was getting into too much portrayal and we could risk losing the audience that were in any case dealing with an unusual narrative. So I removed all her speaking parts. It was an interesting interpretation, for all she does through the film is glare at [the character of] ‘khadoos’. That was fun…many people enjoyed that.

Let’s talk about your documentary “Nero’s Guests”. Pretty heart-rending subject to make a movie about? Did the making of the movie take a toll on you?

Deepa: It was a difficult film to make because there is a general apathy in audiences and it is challenging to make them react to someone else’s tragedy. I took 5 years to film, and 1 year to edit it…so it is bound to take a toll. But that toll was meaningless in the face of the pain and suffering I was seeing.

Over 200,000 farmers dead and a government not interested in doing anything…

What kind of reactions did you get to that film?

Deepa: Wonderful. That’s the kind of cinema I believe in…so it is satisfying when people react to it. So many people have come forward to help families in the countryside as a result of the film…that a film can bridge the gap in some sense…that gives me satisfaction.

You’ve often said that a movie needs to have soul for you to be attracted to the project. I’m looking at your filmography and I can see you really take that to heart. Were there unique challenges to these projects as far as editing went? Did you cut My Name is Khan differently from Rock On!! for example?

Deepa: My Name is Khan was an epic kind of film and Karan shoots a lot. Moreover, we struggled with the second half of the film…so it was challenging. But Karan was so open to suggestion and interpretation that I enjoyed the film and the process of working with him.

It also helps when I have a genuine connect with the director. While Karan and me come from different cinematic genres, I am very fond of him and have the highest respect for the warmth and generosity with which he runs his company. So despite the challenges, I enjoyed Khan. Rock On was a dream edit…I had great tuning with [director] Abhishek [Kapoor], [Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidwani‘s production house] Excel Entertainmentis also a very organized company and the material was wonderful. So that was a very smooth edit…it was also very quick. I cut that film in about three months while Khan took me a year!

So each film has its own unique challenge. With a TZP, it was that search for honesty in [actor] Darsheel [Safdary]’s performance, in each child’s performance…never allowing a false note to creep into the film. Also that film was shot with over 1000 cans…that’s a lot of stock! So again it was a film that took time.

Strangely, most people think of Rock On as a well-cut film, but for me it was the most effortless. A TZP or a Khan is far more difficult. But that is because people still look for editing that shows itself off as opposed to that which is invisible…and often much harder. I get more challenged when the material does not depend on form, but on simple good quality cutting.

Even in a Rock On, if you study the edit, you will see minimum use of effects and external devices…even the songs rely on just authentic quality cuts…that I like to do!

Tells us a bit about your new movie Stanley Ka Dabba. What was working on that like?

Deepa: It was one of the most challenging films I have cut. The film was made in a workshop format, of shooting merely 4 hours every Saturday, with no focus marks for children to follow, no hard-bound dialogues to mug. So there was a certain openness that was very precious.

Amole was looking for the most unconscious, non-measured moments from children. That moment when they are not even aware that there is a camera. Also, scenes extended much beyond the length that you see in the film. So if there is a 3 minute long scene, it could be 20 minutes in length and then one is picking an identifying its most interesting and original part. Also, it goes without saying that it did not have a conventional shooting pattern so it’s editing was also challenging.

Any recent film you’ve seen where the editing blew you away?

Deepa: I loved the way [The] Social Network was edited. [Social Network had a team of 11 editors.] I also thought the dialogue scenes in Paa were fantastically cut…it was very interesting the way the editor was cutting the scenes between Abhishek and Mr. Bachchan. [Paa was edited by Anil Naidu.] I also loved Sreekar Prasad’s work on Kaminey…he strung the material together exceedingly well, also the lyricism in the edit of Udaan [edited by Dipika Kalra]

You worked with Karan Johar on My Name is Khan. I’ll ask you a few Karan Johar-like questions if you don’t mind. Let’s say you were making the most important film of your life, would you work on it as a (1) writer (2) director (3) editor (4) producer

Deepa: Director

If you were offered a movie with not that much soul but Shahrukh, Salman and Aamir were all in it. would you (1) say sure, why not (2) say thanks but no, thanks (3) say thanks but I’ll use a pseudonym in the credits (4) call all three Khans and beg them not do the movie?

Deepa: If all three say yes, then I am inclined to believe it must be a fantastic script so perhaps I would take a chance and attempt it!!

Ok Deepa, I’ll let you go. Thanks much for taking the time to answer the questions. Good luck with the new movie and this trial blazing career thing.

Deepa: Thank you…its wonderful to stop, do some introspection and this very detailed interview gave me that opportunity.